Police on standby as the Hells Angels roll into town

Geelong, Melbourne, Australia (March 14, 2018) BTN — There will be a highly visible police presence across Geelong and the Surf Coast this weekend as police officers monitor a large Hells Angels MC ride. Members of the biker outfit and their families have made reservations at a hotel in Lorne.

The Grand Pacific accepted the bookings after other hotels in the town agreed to police requests not to allow the Hells Angels members to stay at their premises. It is not known at this time if the group will be in Lorne for an organised meeting or a simple social gathering.

However Inspector Gary Bruce says community safety is the force's top priority and officers will be working hard to detect and deter any public order incidents and anti-social behaviour.

SOURCE: Bay 93.9
Source: Biker Trash Network

Ol' Ladies Continued - Biker Trash Network -

New police task force opening to target the influx of Australian MC's to the region

Tauranga, North Island, NZ, (March 13, 2018) BTN — Police Minister Stuart Nash is in Tauranga today to launch the first new branch of the National Organised Crime Group outside of Auckland and Wellington.

A statement released by the New Zealand Police today says the task force is strategically based in Tauranga to help deal with organised crime, methamphetamine production and importation and asset recovery.

The NZ Herald reports the organised crime taskforce expansion into the Bay of Plenty is largely due to the growing numbers of Australian bikies, particularly the Comancheros and Bandidos, who have been deported from Australia for their past criminal histories and failure of the "good character" legal test.

The encroachment of the long-established Australian chapters of the Comancheros and Bandidos onto Kiwi soil comes after another Australian bikie gang, the Rebels, as well as the Head Hunters, established chapters in Tauranga over the last few years.

"Organised criminals with transnational ties are operating in the region," says Police Commissioner Mike Bush.

The appeal of Tauranga as a base for bikie gangs comes from the presence of the busiest port in the country - and the potential to smuggle large drug quantities through it on container ships.

"Tauranga is an area of growth for New Zealand and good people are setting themselves up in Tauranga," Assistant Commissioner Richard Chambers said in anticipation of the opening.

"Organised criminals are too. Being on their back doorstep is the right thing to do."

Making up the new team will be six detectives focusing exclusively on organised crime in the Tauranga region, and reporting back to the larger police base in Wellington.

New Zealand police have for years now warned of the threat deported "Kiwi" gang members, many who have spent the majority of their lives in Australia, would in time strengthen New Zealand gangs and increase their criminal efficiency.

SOURCE: TVNZ

Source: Biker Trash Network

Hells Angel fires lawyer in BC Supreme Court

Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, (March 13, 2018) BTN — The trial of an Edmonton Hells Angel and two associates scheduled for April will be delayed as the three fired their lawyer in BC Supreme Court in Chilliwack on Monday.

Neil Patrick Cantrill – who goes by “Nitro” in a Nomads Chapter of the Alberta Hells Angels – is charged with aggravated assault, kidnapping without the use of a firearm, unlawful confinement or imprisonment, extortion, attempting to choke to overcome resistance, and possession of non-firearm knowing unauthorized.

Charged alongside Cantrill in the alleged incident from Hope in August 2016 is Stephen Cantrill and Robert Lowry. A publication ban prevents any details of the case to be reported at this time.

The matter was scheduled to go to trial on April 9, but the Edmonton-based lawyer for the men, Jake Chadi, appeared via telephone in Chilliwack on March 12 to apply to be removed from the case as the Cantrills and Lowry want a new lawyer. Biker TrashNetwork

“My clients have lost confidence in my services,” Chadi said.

The three men said they are looking for a local lawyer, and should have one by next week but there would not be enough time for he or she to get up to speed by the April 9 court date.

Crown counsel Grant Lindsey pointed out any further delay in the case is as a result of defence so the Jordan principle, which addresses court delays, would not be in effect.

Neil Cantrill, 59, has a long history with the courts, and was once convicted of illegal possession of live rattlesnakes and fined $1,000.

In 1998, he faced much more serious charges after a man claimed three men, one in Angels colours, stormed his home and forced him to hand over property for a debt, according to a Jan. 28, 2001 article in the Edmonton Sun. Those charges were later stayed.

And according to Vancouver Sun gang reporter Kim Bolan, Cantrill was accused of a large methamphetamine production operation nine years ago in Alberta. He was alleged to have supplied the White Boy Posse.

In 2003, he faced further weapons and drug charges that were later dropped due to an invalid warrant, Bolan wrote in 2016 in her blog on gangsters.

SOURCE: Hope Standard

Source: Biker Trash Network